Here, after maybe 100 takes over 3 days, is another prelude, not even one minute long. I am still not really satisfied with the groans that come from the piano, but I give up. Trying to get this piano to be delicate is like expecting a rhinoceros to perform the Dance of the Sugar-Plum Cherry.

To prove it is not I who is no good, I tried playing Bortkiewicz's Butterfly, which at home was almost impossible, on a Steinway 1/4 grand. Wonderful! I had no problem whatsoever in making the melody soar and keeping the right hand discrete, even if I hasd not tested the piano beforehand

Richard,I like this one <i>much</i> more than #15. Kind of reminiscent of Debussy's "Pagodes", and not just because of the pentatonics, either. You display a lot of discipline on this recording.Not only do I like your playing, there's something about the piece that suits your recording setup better. Or have you changed your physical setup? Mike angle? Just curious, since I know nothing about recording.

Thank you, stu. For me this one remembers the pealing of bells, the way they ring them in Orthodox countries. Even though I believe the composer to be Muslim (Bashkotistan is predominantly Muslim, as all Turkic lands are, with the exception of Yakutia), he must have heard church bells in Moscow. Speaking of church bells, I have seen in Russia people play bells as if they were a "keyboard" (for lack of a better word) A number of them are hung up in the same manner as tubular bells are, cords are attached to each of the hammers and joined together in a knot. The performer then holds the chords by the knot and, by moving the knot from right to left and at the same time twisting it, plays a melody.

I moved my recorder further away from the piano and placed it on cushions (I have a portable mp3 recorder) so that it faces the back of the piano. As the room is big and with relatively high ceilings, there is a natural reverbation that before was not present.

_________________Richard Willmer"Please do not shoot the pianistHe is doing his best."Oscar Wilde: Impressions of America: Leadville

I have seen in Russia people play bells as if they were a "keyboard" (for lack of a better word) A number of them are hung up in the same manner as tubular bells are, cords are attached to each of the hammers and joined together in a knot. The performer then holds the chords by the knot and, by moving the knot from right to left and at the same time twisting it, plays a melody.

Interesting. From your description this appears to resemble a primitive form of carillion, which really does have a keyboard. Except that the "keys" are more robust than those of an organ or piano and are more like large levers sticking out of a huge panel. They require more force, and travel through a larger distance, than the keys of a piano or organ, and are therefore not really playable with your fingers, you use your fists instead.

Since the score is "secret" I can't comment on any misreadings, but the piece doesn't sound as though it conceals any rhythmic pitfalls. (No. 2 looks worth trying!).

A small technical point not related to playing: You seen to have developed a system whereby you enter the composer's name once and it magically appears in three places at once, namely the MP3 file name, and the composer and title ID3 tags. On this occasion you've mis-spelled the composer's name (by transposing the 'l' and 'g') which has therefore affected all three places.

I have seen in Russia people play bells as if they were a "keyboard" (for lack of a better word) A number of them are hung up in the same manner as tubular bells are, cords are attached to each of the hammers and joined together in a knot. The performer then holds the chords by the knot and, by moving the knot from right to left and at the same time twisting it, plays a melody.

Interesting. From your description this appears to resemble a primitive form of carillion, which really does have a keyboard. Except that the "keys" are more robust than those of an organ or piano and are more like large levers sticking out of a huge panel. They require more force, and travel through a larger distance, than the keys of a piano or organ, and are therefore not really playable with your fingers, you use your fists instead.

Since the score is "secret" I can't comment on any misreadings, but the piece doesn't sound as though it conceals any rhythmic pitfalls. (No. 2 looks worth trying!).

A small technical point not related to playing: You seen to have developed a system whereby you enter the composer's name once and it magically appears in three places at once, namely the MP3 file name, and the composer and title ID3 tags. On this occasion you've mis-spelled the composer's name (by transposing the 'l' and 'g') which has therefore affected all three places.

_________________Richard Willmer"Please do not shoot the pianistHe is doing his best."Oscar Wilde: Impressions of America: Leadville

No misreadings, that I can guarantee, but there is a left hand e (over a d/a interval on the bass - all played together, thew e with the thumb) that steafastly refuses to show up on the recording, no matter how hard I hit it.

There is a Russian Surname Ismailov and for one of those reasons psychologists spend a career studying, I am apt to mix it up, so that IsmaGiLov becomes IsmaLiGov. Add to that that Ismail is used in Russia in its Arabic form (there is in Moskow a park called Ismailyj Park, that is Ishmael Park). Believe it or not, I mispelled the name three times, not counting the files I mispelled and that I saved! Quite a feat that one!

The score is not secret: is is available, but one needs to know Russian to be able to download it (you need to register). I do not want to put the score on the site, because the composer has some scheme by which he is paid (not by the user but by an advertiser - a type of pay per click) everytime the score of the mp3 file is accessed and I do not want to deprive him of that income, principally since someone else is paying him in my place!

_________________Richard Willmer"Please do not shoot the pianistHe is doing his best."Oscar Wilde: Impressions of America: Leadville

I really liked this piece a lot. I don't have the score, but your playing was very convincing indeed. Despite the limitations of the piano, you drew a beautiful tone from it. The new mic placement also seems beneficial. The sound of bells was also my first impression. It brought to mind the start of Ravel's "La Vallee des Cloches".

David

_________________"Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities." David April

It seems to be up and working. Funny thing: both preludes Nos. 5 and 15 (note the "5") are in "simliar" keys (D major and D flat major), last the same time (1'04") and are the same size (1,5 Mb). Add to that that when I submitted No. 5 the first time I actually sent no 15 again by mistake! How far can coincidences go!

_________________Richard Willmer"Please do not shoot the pianistHe is doing his best."Oscar Wilde: Impressions of America: Leadville

Funny thing: both preludes Nos. 5 and 15 (note the "5") are in "simliar" keys (D major and D flat major), last the same time (1'04") and are the same size (1,5 Mb). Add to that that when I submitted No. 5 the first time I actually sent no 15 again by mistake! How far can coincidences go!

Well, it may be coincidence that two of your recordings last the same time (although your previous recording of No 15 lasted longer), but file size will of necessity be strongly correlated to duration, so that doesn't count as part of the "coincidence".

As for the prelude numbers 5 and 15 (which both end in the digit 5) "happening" to correspond to keys which are both major and both have D in their name (5 as natural and 15 as flat), this isn't really coincidence either, it is a consequence of a simple mathematical fact combined with the way Ismagilov has arranged his prelude numbering in relation to their keys.

Like in Bach's WTC, Ismagilov's 24 preludes consist of one in each key. No 1 is in C major, No 2 in C minor, No 3 in G major, etc. All the odd numbers are major and all the even numbers are minor (same as in WTC). But the way Ismagilov arranges his odd (major) numbers through the keys differs from WTC: Bach's numbers 1,3,5,7,etc correspond to C, C#, D,Eb,etc, ascending chromatically, whereas Ismagilov's ascend in "circle of fifths" order of, i.e. his 1,3,5,7,9,11,13 correspond to C,G,D,A,E,B,F# (I'm not sure about 13, it might be Gb instead of F#), and then they continue with 15,17,19,21,23 corresponding to Db,Ab,Eb,Bb,F.

Therefore you will find that not only do the D and Db preludes have numbers 5 and 15, but also thatA and Ab have 7 and 17,E and Eb have 9 and 19,B and Bb have 11 and 21, and finally eitherF# and F have 13 and 23, or elseG and Gb have 3 and 13.

And why is this? It's because any two keys that are a semitone apart (like D and Db) are 7 steps apart in the circle of fifths and so their number of sharps differs by 7 (from D with 2 sharps to get to Db we must subtract 7 sharps to end up with -5 sharps which is the same as 5 flats), and since the prelude numbering goes up or down in steps of two (to skip the minor keys), it means we have to subtract 7 twice (or subtract 14) from the prelude number (so with the D major prelude being number 5, the Db major prelude must be number 5-14 or number -9), and then if necessary we need to add 24 to get it into the range 1 to 24. In short, we either subtract 14 or add 10, whichever gets us a result in the range 1 to 24. And of course when you add 10 to any number, its least significant digit does not change.

Well, it may be coincidence that two of your recordings last the same time (although your previous recording of No 15 lasted longer), but file size will of necessity be strongly correlated to duration, so that doesn't count as part of the "coincidence".

As for the prelude numbers 5 and 15 (which both end in the digit 5) "happening" to correspond to keys which are both major and both have D in their name (5 as natural and 15 as flat), this isn't really coincidence either, it is a consequence of a simple mathematical fact combined with the way Ismagilov has arranged his prelude numbering in relation to their keys.

Like in Bach's WTC, Ismagilov's 24 preludes consist of one in each key. No 1 is in C major, No 2 in C minor, No 3 in G major, etc. All the odd numbers are major and all the even numbers are minor (same as in WTC). But the way Ismagilov arranges his odd (major) numbers through the keys differs from WTC: Bach's numbers 1,3,5,7,etc correspond to C, C#, D,Eb,etc, ascending chromatically, whereas Ismagilov's ascend in "circle of fifths" order of, i.e. his 1,3,5,7,9,11,13 correspond to C,G,D,A,E,B,F# (I'm not sure about 13, it might be Gb instead of F#), and then they continue with 15,17,19,21,23 corresponding to Db,Ab,Eb,Bb,F.

Therefore you will find that not only do the D and Db preludes have numbers 5 and 15, but also thatA and Ab have 7 and 17,E and Eb have 9 and 19,B and Bb have 11 and 21, and finally eitherF# and F have 13 and 23, or elseG and Gb have 3 and 13.

And why is this? It's because any two keys that are a semitone apart (like D and Db) are 7 steps apart in the circle of fifths and so their number of sharps differs by 7 (from D with 2 sharps to get to Db we must subtract 7 sharps to end up with -5 sharps which is the same as 5 flats), and since the prelude numbering goes up or down in steps of two (to skip the minor keys), it means we have to subtract 7 twice (or subtract 14) from the prelude number (so with the D major prelude being number 5, the Db major prelude must be number 5-14 or number -9), and then if necessary we need to add 24 to get it into the range 1 to 24. In short, we either subtract 14 or add 10, whichever gets us a result in the range 1 to 24. And of course when you add 10 to any number, its least significant digit does not change.

Yeah - what he said! ( I was going to say the same thing.... )

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

Well, it may be coincidence that two of your recordings last the same time (although your previous recording of No 15 lasted longer), but file size will of necessity be strongly correlated to duration, so that doesn't count as part of the "coincidence".

As for the prelude numbers 5 and 15 (which both end in the digit 5) "happening" to correspond to keys which are both major and both have D in their name (5 as natural and 15 as flat), this isn't really coincidence either, it is a consequence of a simple mathematical fact combined with the way Ismagilov has arranged his prelude numbering in relation to their keys.

Like in Bach's WTC, Ismagilov's 24 preludes consist of one in each key. No 1 is in C major, No 2 in C minor, No 3 in G major, etc. All the odd numbers are major and all the even numbers are minor (same as in WTC). But the way Ismagilov arranges his odd (major) numbers through the keys differs from WTC: Bach's numbers 1,3,5,7,etc correspond to C, C#, D,Eb,etc, ascending chromatically, whereas Ismagilov's ascend in "circle of fifths" order of, i.e. his 1,3,5,7,9,11,13 correspond to C,G,D,A,E,B,F# (I'm not sure about 13, it might be Gb instead of F#), and then they continue with 15,17,19,21,23 corresponding to Db,Ab,Eb,Bb,F.

Therefore you will find that not only do the D and Db preludes have numbers 5 and 15, but also thatA and Ab have 7 and 17,E and Eb have 9 and 19,B and Bb have 11 and 21, and finally eitherF# and F have 13 and 23, or elseG and Gb have 3 and 13.

And why is this? It's because any two keys that are a semitone apart (like D and Db) are 7 steps apart in the circle of fifths and so their number of sharps differs by 7 (from D with 2 sharps to get to Db we must subtract 7 sharps to end up with -5 sharps which is the same as 5 flats), and since the prelude numbering goes up or down in steps of two (to skip the minor keys), it means we have to subtract 7 twice (or subtract 14) from the prelude number (so with the D major prelude being number 5, the Db major prelude must be number 5-14 or number -9), and then if necessary we need to add 24 to get it into the range 1 to 24. In short, we either subtract 14 or add 10, whichever gets us a result in the range 1 to 24. And of course when you add 10 to any number, its least significant digit does not change.

Yeah - what he said! ( I was going to say the same thing.... )

Ah, very well, but the real coincidence is that I recorded and posted Nos 15 and 5 in sequence. Since the score is in Roman nuimbers, I was maybe not even aware the latter was No 5 until I actually had to name the file!

_________________Richard Willmer"Please do not shoot the pianistHe is doing his best."Oscar Wilde: Impressions of America: Leadville

I agree with you there, Chris: of the three, it is the better one. He is not yet 30, or, if he is, he has only turned that age. He has time, though some people are finished by that age, some only start 20 years later. Think of Janacek. If I were playing pieces of his written in his 20s and you were commenting on them, you probably would have said the same. He has written a cello concerto, which you can find on YouTube.

You mentioned Lera Auerbach. I signed up for her site and have listened to some things of hers. The preludes seem technically demanding, but then she is the better pianist, though not particularly bleak, as you say. I find that her works in the major are just as dramatic as the ones in the minor and I detect in her the influence of Bach, even if she uses clusters.

I also tried her ballet The Little Mermaid. What utter nonsense these modern stage directors and choreographers think uo! You take a fairy-tale and turn it into an autobiography unfit for the main public of the story.

How Russian is she, thouigh, after all this time in the States?

_________________Richard Willmer"Please do not shoot the pianistHe is doing his best."Oscar Wilde: Impressions of America: Leadville

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